Casteel isn't just a talented baseball team. It's a smart one.

The Colts demonstrated their baseball IQ again Wednesday night at HoHoKam Stadium, where they took down Notre Dame Prep, 8-1 in a 5A semifinal contest. 

The top-ranked and defending state champs will have their shot at a repeat next Tuesday against No. 2 Sunrise Mountain at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Sunrise Mountain defeated Nogales in the earlier semifinal, 12-6.

It will be the first meeting between the schools this season. And the way both teams are playing, it could make for a classic title game. Casteel (23-6) has outscored four playoff opponents 37-5.

Wednesday's victory was methodical and efficient, as Casteel took advantage of Notre Dame errors and manufactured runs to slowly wear down the Saints.

Casteel scored twice on throwing errors, while four runs came off sacrifice fly balls or hard hit grounders.

Kade Thompson drove in two runs for Casteel. Tyler Hatch, Bobby Pierce and Kyler Anderson added RBI's. 

Starting pitcher Mason Russell wasn't dominating as he was laast week vs. Notre Dame, but he saved his best pitches for when Casteel needed them most. In the second and third innings, Notre Dame loaded the bases. But the only thing the Saints had to show for was one run, which came off a wild pitch that allowed Matthew Gahan to steal home.

Russell went four and one-third innings, allowing one hit before Gabe Schneider relieved him.

"Mason's pitch count got up higher than we'd have liked, so we had to take him out of the game," Casteel coach Matt Denny said. "But our relievers pitched well and it worked to shake things up. We like putting pressure on teams and giving different looks and relying on smart baseball, and I think we executed that pretty well tonight."

Notre Dame finished the season 22-9

Sunrise Mountain 12 Nogales 6

Sunrise Mountain is back in the state championship game.

Thanks to a huge sixth inning, the Mustangs were able to break open a close game and turned it into a 12-6 victory over Nogales Wednesday night in a 5A semifinal playoff contest at HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa.

Sunrise Mountain will square off against defending state champion Casteel next Tuesday night at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

The Mustangs (29-4-1) last reached he title game in 2021 where they fell to Desert Mountain.

"I'm proud of our kids because that was a hard game to win," Sunrise Mountain coach Michael Deardoff said. "It's always difficult beating a good team twice, and Nogales came at us hard today. They know how to win playoff games."

Sophomore Logan Guilford went 2-3 and drove in four runs, three of which came on a home run in the third inning for Sunrise Mountain.

Ryan Hazeltine was 2-3 with two RBI's that not only broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, but sparked the Sunrise Mountain offense to four more runs, putting Nogales in a 12-6 hole heading into the seventh inning.

Chase Heid, Ayden McGinnis and Connor Meyer all had RBI's in the pivotal sixth inning.

Nogales, which also lost to Sunrise Mountain earlier in the playoffs 6-1, battled hard Wednesday, as the teams went blow for blow up through the sixth inning.

"I'm proud of our kids because that was a hard game to win," Sunrise Mountain coach Michael Deardoff said. "It's always difficult beating a good team twice, and Nogales came at us hard today. They know how to win playoff games."

Sunrise Mountain starting pitcher Tanner MIlner wasn't as sharp as his previous outing against Nogales. The senior lasted for three and one-third innings, allowing four runs.

Junior Gunner Thomas took it the rest of the way in relief of Milner.

Denzel Montijo drove in Nogales' first run in the third inning and its last run in the top of the sixth inning. Alan Durazo, Ralph Felix and David Zazueta each had RBI's for Nogales (15-11)